Bob McDonnell hails Mitt Romney wins

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell inched a little closer Wednesday to backing Mitt Romney, praising him for “impressive” wins in Iowa and New Hampshire and suggesting the next GOP presidential nominee should have gubernatorial experience.

“Mitt’s done something that nobody’s done for about 35 years or so, and that’s to win Iowa and New Hampshire back to back — different electorates, and I think it’s certainly pretty impressive to have done that, and he’s been the steady one,” said McDonnell, who has yet to endorse a candidate in the Republican primary contest. “I think he’s got some momentum … if he does well in South Carolina, then I think it gets a little easier down the road for him.”

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“Some of the other candidates are showing momentum as well” in the Palmetto State, added McDonnell, who did not mention anyone else specifically.

The Virginia governor, who is chairman of the Republican Governors Association, said that he wasn’t sure what other governors would do, pointing out that not many have made endorsements yet. “What other governors may do at this point, I don’t know. Very few have made endorsements at this point, but it’s certainly possible here in the near future that many will weigh it,” he said.

However, McDonnell also asserted that the next Republican presidential nominee should have experience as a governor.

“I think the best candidate for our team would be a governor or former governor simply because when you look at what’s broken in Washington, somebody needs to know how to create jobs and balance budgets. Governors do that,” said McDonnell.

Romney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman are the four candidates in the GOP race with gubernatorial experience.